novelraw Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162. Flower (8)
While Jin Yuseong was thinking about the new prey.
Choyeon was looking down with indifferent eyes.
The old man whose whole body was hacked by Jin Yuseong’s blade.
The Moon Lord of Red Moon Falling Flowers.
Choyeon frowned slightly.
Why?
There was no particular emotion.
Because of this person, she was kidnapped along with her younger sister.
She suffered terrible training and torture in a hellish place.
Pain and endurance were daily life.
Even though she took revenge on the culprit, no particular thought came to mind.
In fact, the thing she couldn't understand the most was something else.
Choyeon turned her gaze slightly.
The girl’s gaze headed towards the sword held in her right hand.
Sharp keenness could still be felt from the blood-stained sword.
She cut the Moon Lord’s body with this sword.
Why?
Clearly, Senior Sister Baek Hyang and Brother Nam Geon ordered her.
To hide because it was dangerous.
At first, she willingly followed that order.
She stayed far back while unfolding stealth techniques.
But at some point, she found herself secretly approaching this person little by little without realizing it.
She thought it was ‘for revenge’.
Even after finishing that satisfying revenge, why is there no feeling?
‘Ah. Is it because he hasn’t died yet?’
The Moon Lord was letting out faint breaths with his body hacked all over.
The revenge was not over yet.
As if reading her thoughts, Jin Yuseong’s gaze headed towards the Moon Lord again.
“Do you remember anything else?”
Jin Yuseong continued the torture.
He had no intention of sparing him in the first place, and even less intention of killing him nicely.
After endless torture, the Moon Lord finally lost his life.
A corpse that lost its vitality.
Choyeon looked down at that corpse with a gaze like looking at a stone.
Memories of a few days ago surface.
After informing them about the Hundred Blood Vessel Technique and the Unwavering Heart Divine Art. The words Senior Brother Jin Yuseong said.
The attitude Young Master Dang Sopyeong or the comrades showed after that.
‘Is there a problem with my head?’
Was she really a broken person somewhere?
Just as she was coming up with such thoughts with an indifferent face. Jin Yuseong’s voice dug into her ears.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
Only then did Choyeon, who was looking at the Moon Lord, turn her head.
Dang Sopyeong scolded Jin Yuseong.
“Since she succeeded in revenge, naturally she would have a lot to think about.”
At this, Jin Yuseong also nodded.
“Indeed, since we plan to visit Teacher Sama in Hubei, it would be good to deliver this news to the children and your sister there as well.”
Choyeon let out a low exclamation.
“Ah…….”
If she received this news, her sister would likely be quite happy.
Unlike herself, who felt nothing.
Jin Yuseong, who looked at Choyeon for a moment, turned his head and spoke to his comrades.
“Phew. Since we’ve dealt with all the assassins for now, we should wrap things up.”
“Now we can communicate a bit. Receive treatment first.”
At Dang Sopyeong’s words, Jin Yuseong looked at him as if he were a madman.
“What nonsense is that? There is still work to be done before that.”
Saying so, Jin Yuseong pointed somewhere with his hand.
The base of the formation located in the north. The place the Moon Lord described as the Spring of Resentful Blood.
“There are corpses of those who died unjustly and were used as tools for the formation. Shouldn't we gather the bodies of the residents here and hold a rite to soothe their grudges even a little?”
Dang Sopyeong looked like he wanted to argue something, opening his mouth but only gaping like a goldfish.
A moment later. Dang Sopyeong let out a light sigh and spoke.
“Haa. Young Lady Cho and I, whose bodies are at least intact, will gather the corpses. So you, rest now. Miss Baek and Brother Nam too.”
Saying so, Dang Sopyeong pointed to the back.
Hwangbo Ak was sprawled out there.
“Rest together where Brother Hwangbo is lying down and resting.”
Hwangbo Ak, who had severe internal injuries, had fainted after receiving Dang Sopyeong’s treatment.
A brief quarrel ensued.
“I, I don’t hurt. I help too.”
“Then I will join as well.”
“I, I am also fine. Brother.”
“N, no. You t, two are serious. Must rest.”
Because they were fighting over helping or not, Dang Sopyeong grimaced completely and spoke.
“Just shut up and all three of you rest.”
Eventually, the trio moved towards the fainted Hwangbo Ak.
Dang Sopyeong and Choyeon went around the village gathering the bodies from the Spring of Resentful Blood.
Among them, the most horrific place was the Emerald Crossing River side.
Other Springs of Resentful Blood had about a dozen corpses piled up like a grave.
On the other hand, the Emerald Crossing River had about fifty corpses tightly piled up in a small pavilion wrapped with talismans and chains.
Because a disgusting energy, whether it was corpse poison or resentment created by vengeful spirits, was condensed there, extracting the bodies was also quite a toil.
Around the time they had gathered a total of about a hundred corpses. Those taking a break also joined them.
They dug a pit, set a fire, and began burning the corpses one by one.
“I am sorry. I wanted to make proper graves for you with all my heart, but due to the remnants of the curse, it seems it would cause harm even to others passing through here.”
Jin Yuseong offered words of apology to the corpses with a very serious face.
Every time they burned a corpse, they bowed to that body.
After holding a simple rite, the sky had turned completely dark.
Dang Sopyeong opened his mouth.
“Since everyone is in no condition to move right away, it would be better to stay here for a few days and focus on taking care of our bodies.”
Eventually, they decided to stay here for a few days and focus on recovery.
From early morning the next day, Dang Sopyeong and Choyeon moved busily.
Everyone was a patient.
The two of them had to take care of the remaining four.
Because corpse poison could arise, on the second day, they went around the village gathering and burning the assassins' corpses too.
Then they visited the nearby hills.
There was a need to find food and medicinal herbs.
After going back and forth to the hills with Dang Sopyeong for a while.
Choyeon’s steps stopped.
She was staring intently at a certain spot.
Dang Sopyeong, who was moving ahead without thinking, turned his head.
Dang Sopyeong approached her and asked.
“What are you…….”
He trailed off, then asked again with a fascinated expression.
“Is Young Lady Cho also interested in flowers?”
In the direction Choyeon was standing still and looking, a flower was blooming.
Choyeon, who seemed to have no emotions, showing interest in flowers.
For Dang Sopyeong, it had to be fascinating in many ways.
At that question, Choyeon turned her head to look at Dang Sopyeong.
“I am not interested.”
Saying so, Choyeon took a step again.
“Hmm?”
Dang Sopyeong tilted his head and chased after Choyeon.
She didn't know how it was in the past, but the current Choyeon was not interested in flowers.
The reason she stared at the flower earlier was because that flower was familiar.
Was it because of that flower?
While going back and forth to the hills with Dang Sopyeong. Suddenly, her younger sister’s face came to mind.
The face she showed when they last parted.
- Sorry, sister. Because of me again…….
Her younger sister, three years her junior, spoke with a dejected face.
It was a look she had seen often.
From three years ago when they were kidnapped and dragged there together.
No. Come to think of it, it was a face she had seen from even longer ago.
The sisters' parents often said such things to Choyeon.
- You are the older sister, so you must take good care of your sibling.
Choyeon had to take care of her sister every time on behalf of their busy parents.
The whining appearance was familiar since then.
Once, there was an incident where she secretly slipped out of the house to go see flowers in the back mountain.
Ridiculously, her sister stubbornly chased Choyeon to the back mountain.
And that day. Both were kidnapped from the back mountain and dragged to a hellish place.
Was it because of the parents' words she heard until her ears got calluses?
Or was it because her sister followed her and got kidnapped together that day?
Choyeon somehow protected her sister in that hellish place.
When her sister seemed like she would die because she couldn't keep up with the training, she willingly took on double the training for her sister’s share.
Every time that happened, scars increased on Choyeon’s body, and her sister always made an apologetic face.
She had already finished her revenge. No, was it because she finished her revenge?
Why did the years of pain come to mind now?
Thinking about it quietly, she didn't even remember why she protected her sister so fiercely now.
What kind of person was I three years ago? What was the reason I went to the back mountain to see meaningless flowers?
She wasn't particularly curious.
The three years spent just surviving had removed all such trivial sentiments.
If she didn't remove them, if she longed for them, she couldn't have endured.
Perhaps it was because of the Unwavering Heart Divine Art as Senior Brother Jin Yuseong said.
But there was no feeling.
Therefore, there was nothing to be sad or regretful about.
‘Is it because of that flower?’
The flower she discovered in the hills just now was the very flower she went to see on the day she was kidnapped.
So it seemed useless memories briefly surfaced.
Meaningless flowers and such.
Choyeon shook her head once as if shaking off distracting thoughts and walked the hills again with an indifferent expression.
***
Around the time the sunset was fading. Dang Sopyeong and Choyeon returned to the village.
The comrades were resting in the most intact place among the village pavilions.
While Dang Sopyeong brought the medicinal herbs they originally had and the ones gathered from the hills to treat the comrades. Choyeon began cooking with the animals, fruits, and herbs she caught and gathered.
Baek Hyang, who had approached at some point, smiled bitterly and said.
“I’m sorry. Junior Sister.”
Nam Geon also spoke with a gloomy face.
“So, sorry.”
Choyeon answered with an indifferent face.
“It is fine.”
She couldn't understand why they were apologizing.
It had always been like this since they started being together.
Senior Sister Baek Hyang always took care of her with a smiling face.
The reason was still unknown.
It was difficult to deal with. It would be more comfortable if she gave orders instead.
Nam Geon’s case was similar.
For some reason, whenever he looked at her, he made a gloomy expression.
Yet he kept trying to take care of her.
Funny enough, because of that gloomy expression, useless memories surfaced again.
That gloomy face resembled her sister’s expression.
Whenever Choyeon suffered some hardship because of her sister in that hellish place, her sister made that kind of face.
- S, sorry sister…….
Recalling that face, Choyeon asked herself.
‘Why did I protect my sister so fiercely?’
Perhaps it might have been because of her sister’s expression.
Everyone there was expressionless.
The children were the same. If caught making an expression, they would receive terrible punishment from the instructors.
In a space where everyone was expressionless, only her sister was making an expression.
She nodded.
Ultimately, it was a relationship of necessity.
She decided to think that way.
Because nothing more than that came to mind.
Around the time she was organizing her thoughts alone. Jin Yuseong’s voice was heard.
“This is enough rest.”
Jin Yuseong’s calm voice.
To Choyeon, Jin Yuseong was, how to put it.
The most comfortable person to deal with among those she was with.
There were points slightly similar to the instructors of that hellish place.
They had no emotions. So their orders were also plain.
It was enough to just empty one's mind and do the work they ordered.
Jin Yuseong was also similar.
He always gave instructions plainly.
Words and actions were not different. It was enough to follow as ordered without worrying.
Calling Baek Hyang, whom she had known for a short time, ‘Senior Sister’ was also because Jin Yuseong instructed her to do so.
As expected, there was no feeling.
Suddenly, the story Jin Yuseong told her came to mind.
- I do not know how to live like a human. Instead, I will teach you something else.
- Trash mixed among people. Those who are not human. I will teach you how to distinguish such people.
- Learn how to live like a human from Teacher Sama later.
Jin Yuseong’s other stories were easy to understand, but this one was difficult to understand.
The method to distinguish between people and trash.
Although she received various teachings while being with Jin Yuseong, she didn't understand yet.
There was no big problem either.
It was enough to just kill the people Jin Yuseong told her to kill.
Clearly, it was so.
‘Then what is living like a human?’
However, why does this question arise?
‘Can I, who cannot even distinguish between people and trash, not live like a human?’
As if pushing away the question that suddenly surged, the conversation between Jin Yuseong and Dang Sopyeong was heard.
“So from tomorrow, I will start training again.”
“Haa. I’d rather die. I don’t know why I’m crazy enough to be with this guy who is anxious to die.”
If Jin Yuseong was the easiest to deal with, Dang Sopyeong was the opposite.
Words and actions were too different.
She couldn't grasp the intention behind the words that man spat out.
If she followed what that man said literally, that man always showed a flustered reaction.
“Did you know? You’re only lucky that no disability has occurred yet; your body is already at its limit. Speaking in terms of porcelain, there are no broken places, but it’s in a state full of hairline cracks.”
It was the same now.
“If you receive just one or two more big shocks in the future, it might completely shatter. Even if limbs aren't cut off, even if vital points aren't injured, it means you could become a cripple at minimum or possibly croak.”
He was shouting at the top of his lungs while pouring out curses.
“Then I must engage in training even harder so as not to suffer severe injuries like this time.”
“……Haa. Can’t you just go croak somewhere I’m not present?”
Choyeon looked at Dang Sopyeong shaking his head from side to side.
That fellow is a man whose words and actions are different.
Then what is the inner thought of that man pouring out curses?
Choyeon, who kept coming up with questions different from usual, found her own answer for the first time.
“Does Young Master Dang like Senior Brother Jin?”
Immediately after Choyeon’s words ended. A terrible silence visited the pavilion.
Dang Sopyeong, like a broken wooden doll, had his body facing Jin Yuseong in front but only his neck turned to look at Choyeon.
Dang Sopyeong’s face, not just crumpled but completely shattered, is engraved in Choyeon’s eyes.
It was an expression she saw for the first time in her short life.
She didn't know what word to use to describe it.
At that moment, the voices of Nam Geon and Baek Hyang were heard.
“Huh? Cho, Choyeon is laughing!”
“It’s the first time I see Junior Sister laughing!”
Out-of-the-blue shouts.
Choyeon raised two hands to touch her face.
Her eyes were curved like crescent moons and the corners of her mouth were raised.
Laughing?
Me?
Why?
Just.
It was funny.
Dang Sopyeong’s face.
Realizing this, the sound of laughter flowed out from the girl’s mouth for the first time.
“Huhuhuhu.”
Ah.
That day kidnapped by Red Moon Falling Flowers.
Why did I go to the back mountain to see flowers?
Just.
Because I wanted to see flowers.